Toronto-based agency Juliet is opening a new sister office in Los Angeles to help accommodate its growing roster of American clients.

The new office will be run by Brian Dunbar (pictured, below), who has been hired into the role of president.

Dunbar, a former president of U.S. creative agency David&Goliath, and Juliet co-founder and chief creative officer Ryan Spelliscy had previously worked together during the latter’s time at Goodby, Silverstein & Partners in San Francisco. Spelliscy sought Dunbar’s input during Juliet’s infancy, and Dunbar began officially working as a consultant for the agency last year.

The office will play an active role in all of Juliet’s work, but with a focus on its growing roster of American business, including new clients Mailchimp, Jagermeister and Good Goods, a division of Will and Jada Smith’s multimedia venture, Westbrook.

“The two offices aren’t going to have separate P&Ls, they’re really going to be brother and sister,” explains Spelliscy. “We’re not going to have a hard line, because I think there’s an interesting pitch about having the west coast-east coast dynamic with more of a North American lens.”

The opening is the latest in a string of wins for the agency, including the launch of its own research platform last year. The L.A. office was the logical next step after Juliet won its latest U.S. clients, Dunbar says.

“Juliet had already attracted some U.S. business and it felt like there was an opportunity to do a lot more there if we had more of a physical presence,” he explains.

“We’ve always been about chasing people and not being too rigid about a plan,” adds Spelliscy. “The fact that Brian and I go back and we know a bunch of other great people in L.A., it makes sense for us to open the office there, giving us the chance to work with the people we want to work with.”

Juliet is opening the new office with five foundational staff, and is actively recruiting creatives and connection planners, “because we put a big emphasis on how the context and creative comes together,” says Spelliscy.

“We spend just as much time thinking about where ideas live as we do thinking about the ideas themselves,” he adds. “When you get the relationship right, it’s the difference between talking to people and moving them to action.”

The focus is on recruiting for the “core areas” first, and Dunbar says expansion will be determined by additional business and the need to scale.